Center awards funds for biofuel advancements

Steven Burke, president and CEO of the Biofuels Center of North Carolina, speaks during an announcement at AdvantageWest in Fletcher Wednesday of a grant award to advance the biofuels industry in Western North Carolina.

Patrick Sullivan/Times-News

By Mark SchulmanTimes-News Staff Writer

Published: Wednesday, January 16, 2013 at 4:47 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, January 16, 2013 at 4:47 p.m.

FLETCHER — The Biofuels Center of North Carolina awarded $766,256 to 14 entities led by AdvantageWest Economic Development Group to advance biofuels in the region and create jobs, support sustainability, agribusiness, diverse education and research and development capabilities.

“This is the foundation to have realistic positioning for new crops, resources, learning and new regional coordination to bring to a new sector of the agricultural economy, environment and future,” Steven Burke, president and CEO of The Biofuels Center, said Wednesday at a ceremony announcing the grant at AdvantageWest.

The grant is the largest single award given in the Biofuels Center's history, and partners in the project will make a 50 percent match in services and financial contributions for a total investment of $1,149,384.

The partnership project, “Planting the seeds for a robust WNC biofuels sector,” will increase biofuels production and use in the region through four goals:

u Expand demand through the establishment of new biofuels testing laboratory and development of outreach tools.

u Ensure regional coordination from a new strategic WNC biofuels coordinator and investigate a multi-tenant biofuels and bioproducts industrial park.

The project is supported by funds from the Tennessee Valley Authority Clean Air Settlement that were directed to the Biofuels Center by the N.C. General Assembly.

The “Planting the seeds for a robust WNC biofuels sector” campaign is expected to result in increased biofuels production and utilization to as much as 5.2 million gallons per year by 2017.

“AdvantageWest and our project partners believe that the business case for North Carolina-grown biofuels production and utilization will lay the foundation for long-term industry growth in Western North Carolina, expanding our region's hub of clean energy industries,” said Tom Alexander, chairman of the AdvantageWest board of directors. “Today is a great day for this region.”

North Carolina's Strategic Plan for Biofuels Leadership, developed by the state legislature in 2007, calls for 10 percent of the state's imported oil to be replaced with local biofuels by 2017, according to AdvantagWest officials.

“This nation is desperate, hungry and in the business of finding regions, areas and states around the country that can begin to show their land and their resources can work together to produce liquid fuels to help America meet its goal,” Burke said.

<p>FLETCHER — The Biofuels Center of North Carolina awarded $766,256 to 14 entities led by AdvantageWest Economic Development Group to advance biofuels in the region and create jobs, support sustainability, agribusiness, diverse education and research and development capabilities. </p><p>“This is the foundation to have realistic positioning for new crops, resources, learning and new regional coordination to bring to a new sector of the agricultural economy, environment and future,” Steven Burke, president and CEO of The Biofuels Center, said Wednesday at a ceremony announcing the grant at AdvantageWest.</p><p>The grant is the largest single award given in the Biofuels Center's history, and partners in the project will make a 50 percent match in services and financial contributions for a total investment of $1,149,384. </p><p>The partnership project, “Planting the seeds for a robust WNC biofuels sector,” will increase biofuels production and use in the region through four goals:</p><p>u Expand feedstock reliability, including oil crops, spent brewery grains and woody biomass.</p><p>u Improve value-chain economics through co-product opportunities such as extracting substance from spent brewery grains.</p><p>u Expand demand through the establishment of new biofuels testing laboratory and development of outreach tools.</p><p>u Ensure regional coordination from a new strategic WNC biofuels coordinator and investigate a multi-tenant biofuels and bioproducts industrial park.</p><p>The project is supported by funds from the Tennessee Valley Authority Clean Air Settlement that were directed to the Biofuels Center by the N.C. General Assembly.</p><p>The “Planting the seeds for a robust WNC biofuels sector” campaign is expected to result in increased biofuels production and utilization to as much as 5.2 million gallons per year by 2017. </p><p>“AdvantageWest and our project partners believe that the business case for North Carolina-grown biofuels production and utilization will lay the foundation for long-term industry growth in Western North Carolina, expanding our region's hub of clean energy industries,” said Tom Alexander, chairman of the AdvantageWest board of directors. “Today is a great day for this region.”</p><p>North Carolina's Strategic Plan for Biofuels Leadership, developed by the state legislature in 2007, calls for 10 percent of the state's imported oil to be replaced with local biofuels by 2017, according to AdvantagWest officials.</p><p>“This nation is desperate, hungry and in the business of finding regions, areas and states around the country that can begin to show their land and their resources can work together to produce liquid fuels to help America meet its goal,” Burke said.</p><p>Reach Schulman at 828-694-7890 or mark.schulman@blueridgenow.com.</p>